I ate at Ala’s German Restaurant on North Charlotte Street in Pottstown this evening for the first time. It was so good I wanted to help get the word out about this authentic German restaurant. There is nothing like Ala’s any where in the Tri-County area, that I am aware of. Our waitress was from Germany and I gathered all of most of the staff is from Germany.

The menu is fairly extensive and they do have other items besides German cuisine. There is a kids menu; sandwiches, soups and salads for lighter fare and even German Pizza 🙂

I ordered bratwurst which comes with sauerkraut and buttered potatoes. Our server asked if I wanted the potatoes or another side so I substituted spaetzle. I received two perfectly grilled brats along with generous portions of sauerkraut and spaetzle. Our server asked if I wanted any sauce on the spaetzle and I opted for a mushroom sauce. All this for $10.99!

My girlfriend ordered Zitronen Schnitzel. Zitronen Schnitzel has a light lemon sauce over it. You can have your choice of pork or chicken schnitzel. Pork is the traditional meat in Germany so she had pork. Shortly after we placed our order you could hear the chef pounding the pork so apparently it’s made to order. She also had a side of spaetzle. This was $11.99. She could not finish all her spaetzle.

Since I made a happy plate, I had to try a dessert crepe. The crepe was made to order and I opted for ice cream and chocolate sauce. It was delicious as well. The crepe was $5.99.

The service was good, the place is clean and the food is amazing. We are certainly going back, sooner than later, to try more items on the menu.

If this sounds like something you would be interested, please help support this local business.

The city may have more holiday events than ever this year: Christkindlmarkt is open for its 21st year, Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites is holding holiday tours and carriage rides for its 20th year and Center City’s Christmas City Village is returning for its third year.

The continued addition of holiday attractions has only helped existing events, operators said. Christkindlmarkt, a German-style holiday marketplace put on by ArtsQuest, had two of its three best years following the debut of the Downtown Bethlehem Association-organized Christmas City Village in 2011, ArtsQuest spokesman Mark Demko said.

Christmas City Village — an open-air German-style market also known as Weihnachtsmarkt — is adding another five huts for a total of 35 this year, Downtown Business Association Manager Kara Johnson said. And Historic Bethlehem is already ahead of schedule on pre-sale tour and carriage ride tickets, according to LoriAnn Wukitsch, the organization’s vice president and managing director.

TOKYO — Toyota Motor sold a record 9.75 million vehicles last year, according to an official tally released Monday, roaring past General Motors and Volkswagen to reclaim its title as the world’s top automaker in 2012.

General Motors, which held the top spot in 2011, mustered 9.29 million vehicles in global sales last year. The U.S. company had been the top-selling automaker for decades before losing its lead to Toyota in 2008.

Volkswagen sold 9.1 million vehicles last year, a record for the German automaker, which has expanded its presence in emerging markets. VW also outsold Toyota in 2011.

Proposed staff cuts in the Fleetwood School District aimed at balancing the budget would primarily impact elective courses at the high school and speciality classes at the middle and elementary schools, district officials confirmed Friday.

The proposed cuts, which will be unveiled publicly at Tuesday’s school board meeting, include laying off three teachers and six support staff members, demoting seven teachers to part time and axing the district’s wrestling program. Four more teaching positions would be eliminated through attrition.

The school board will ultimately decide whether to go forward with the changes intended to help the district close a gap of at least $847,000 in its $38.6 million 2012-13 budget.